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Lead up to Sochi

Re: Lead up to Sochi

tristarscoop said:
A few limited takes on what I saw:
*Kendall Coyne is even quicker than you think she is. Her wheels are kind of nuts.
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I saw Kendall Coyne at Nationals with the Chicago Mission a few years ago when she was a U19 before she went to the Berkshire School. At the time I did not know who she was as I was only following the lower age levels. As I was watching them play Assabet Valley, she picked up a puck in her own end, wrapped the net, and proceeded to fly down the ice beating everyone on the Assabet team and scoring (if I remember correctly) on a deke. That Assabet team was stacked with pretty much all future D1 players and at least a few National team level players (including the goalie) and they were on the ice during this play. I was absolutely shocked and left speechless by the speed at which she played the game - there was no one on the ice who could keep up with her for either team - it was like the other players were skating with wood blades. And she has only gotten faster....
 
Re: Lead up to Sochi

So for those who have followed the Canadian Team closely who has looked best in goal for Team Canada? Who will likely play in Sochi for Canada?
 
Re: Lead up to Sochi

HockeyEast33 said:
I saw Kendall Coyne at Nationals with the Chicago Mission a few years ago when she was a U19 before she went to the Berkshire School. At the time I did not know who she was as I was only following the lower age levels. As I was watching them play Assabet Valley, she picked up a puck in her own end, wrapped the net, and proceeded to fly down the ice beating everyone on the Assabet team and scoring (if I remember correctly) on a deke. That Assabet team was stacked with pretty much all future D1 players and at least a few National team level players (including the goalie) and they were on the ice during this play. I was absolutely shocked and left speechless by the speed at which she played the game - there was no one on the ice who could keep up with her for either team - it was like the other players were skating with wood blades. And she has only gotten faster....
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She is faster now than she was then. Carpenter looks awesome. She has picked up some speed and looks great on that line. Where will Kessel play? IMHO I would Carpy where she is and move Kessel on the line with Decker. Can't wait!
 
UCONN FAN said:
Where will Kessel play? IMHO I would Carpy where she is and move Kessel on the line with Decker. Can't wait!
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At World's, wasn't Kessel with Decker and Coyne? That would seem to be a line that could cause matchup headaches for opponents.
 
Re: Lead up to Sochi

ARM said:
At World's, wasn't Kessel with Decker and Coyne? That would seem to be a line that could cause matchup headaches for opponents.
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Yes, they have played together before. I was thinking the same thing. Three super strong lines:

Knight-Stack-Carpenter
Kessel-Decker-Coyne
Lammy1-Lammy2-Duggan
Chu-Fry
 
Re: Lead up to Sochi

Blackbeard said:
Good article...but one comment.

Hate is an extremely strong word. I have to wonder if players on both sides aren't using the word rather loosely.
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When my daughter played Div 1, she was roomed with an American, a Swiss and another Canadian. None of them hated each other, but were all really proud of their countries. There were always side bets, and a lot of animosity when it came to nation vs nation games. Vancouver olympics caused a lot of strain in the home. But once the dust cleared, they were all playing guitar hero together again.

I like when Hefford says that she has the hatred, I believe that is probably true. Trust me many other players around the NHL hate Marchand (Boston), hated Lemieux (NJ - not Mario), hate Sean Avery (several teams). This is mostly when they play against them. But when they play with them, there is an appreciation for that player and the style they bring. I believe that there is a hatred, especially when you play against each other 6 times (+) before the big test.

When the dust clears, they will be friendly again, support one another and appreciate each others skills. Until one of the 2 teams have the Gold medal around their neck (and give them a few months for the sting to end) there will be genuine dislike (probably hatred).

All the players from both teams have put their lives on hold for at least the last 6 months to fully prepare for this time. Anything but Gold will feel like failure. And I guarantee that at least half of these players will feel the sting.

As for the others who have put their lives on hold for the pursuit of the Holy Grail of Gold, I feel very bad for them. Bram, Birchard, Bendez Bonhomme, Kohanchuk, and 2 US players to be named soon, all put everything into this. So hopefully, the team which doesn't win Gold still appreciates the very experience of these Olympic Games.

Many of these players have not played together as much as one would think. I believe that the only player to play for a primarily Canadian team in the CWHL is Chu and correct me if I'm wrong but Lacasse played for Boston.

The rest either played on CWHL teams based in their own countries.

For many of the others, they did not have much exposure to players outside of their own NCAA team when they went through school, and some of those players would have graduated some years ago. I think when they are using the word hate, they probably mean it for the time being.
 
clarksoncluck said:
When my daughter played Div 1, she was roomed with an American, a Swiss and another Canadian. None of them hated each other, but were all really proud of their countries. There were always side bets, and a lot of animosity when it came to nation vs nation games. Vancouver olympics caused a lot of strain in the home. But once the dust cleared, they were all playing guitar hero together again.

I like when Hefford says that she has the hatred, I believe that is probably true. Trust me many other players around the NHL hate Marchand (Boston), hated Lemieux (NJ - not Mario), hate Sean Avery (several teams). This is mostly when they play against them. But when they play with them, there is an appreciation for that player and the style they bring. I believe that there is a hatred, especially when you play against each other 6 times (+) before the big test.

When the dust clears, they will be friendly again, support one another and appreciate each others skills. Until one of the 2 teams have the Gold medal around their neck (and give them a few months for the sting to end) there will be genuine dislike (probably hatred).

All the players from both teams have put their lives on hold for at least the last 6 months to fully prepare for this time. Anything but Gold will feel like failure. And I guarantee that at least half of these players will feel the sting.

As for the others who have put their lives on hold for the pursuit of the Holy Grail of Gold, I feel very bad for them. Bram, Birchard, Bendez Bonhomme, Kohanchuk, and 2 US players to be named soon, all put everything into this. So hopefully, the team which doesn't win Gold still appreciates the very experience of these Olympic Games.

Many of these players have not played together as much as one would think. I believe that the only player to play for a primarily Canadian team in the CWHL is Chu and correct me if I'm wrong but Lacasse played for Boston.

The rest either played on CWHL teams based in their own countries.

For many of the others, they did not have much exposure to players outside of their own NCAA team when they went through school, and some of those players would have graduated some years ago. I think when they are using the word hate, they probably mean it for the time being.
Click to expand...

Agree. The hate is for the jersey, though I'm sure there are several players who are intensely disliked.
 
Re: Lead up to Sochi

Blackbeard said:
Hate is an extremely strong word. I have to wonder if players on both sides aren't using the word rather loosely.
Click to expand...

Overall in our society the word "hate" is way over-used. Hate is too strong of word for use related to sports. Hate is an emotion or thought runs deep and is at your core. True hate between two parties cannot come and go, it's always there, it's unreconcilable. You can supress it, but it's like a smoldering timber on a dry and windy day in a old growth pine forest, it's going to lite up eventually. A suicide bomber has true hate for thier targets. When you round people up because they are different than you and kill them, that's hate.
 
Re: Lead up to Sochi

Timothy A said:
Overall in our society the word "hate" is way over-used. Hate is too strong of word for use related to sports. Hate is an emotion or thought runs deep and is at your core. True hate between two parties cannot come and go, it's always there, it's unreconcilable. You can supress it, but it's like a smoldering timber on a dry and windy day in a old growth pine forest, it's going to lite up eventually. A suicide bomber has true hate for thier targets. When you round people up because they are different than you and kill them, that's hate.
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This is basically what I was thinking when I made my comment. It seems that the word is used as hyperbole for maximum shock value effect. Either that or the users haven't given it too much thought other than their being affected in a particular direction as a product of the environment (meaning the tryouts, camps, bond building, "tradition", etc.) that they have been and are being steeped in.

While I don't disagree with the previous two posters and not to put too fine (or gruesome) a point on it, the thought that ran through my mind when I kept reading that word in that article was this... if they had been forced to watch their immediate family members being hacked to death with a machete and assuming they could "survive" the resulting emotional trauma, how would they compare their feelings toward the perpetrator with their feelings toward a constant competitor in a hockey game (or a team of such competitors) regardless of the jerseys involved?

The comparison is absurd.

It seems to me, as you have pointed out, that hatred is the emotion that is born when someone's action violates the very core of your being and not being able to recognize that there are varying degrees of "dislike" as there are of "like" strikes me as being potentially dangerous and certainly not healthy even though it may sell tickets.
 
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Blackbeard said:
The comparison is absurd.
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Sport is full of metaphors that go too far and make little sense when compared to real life. The NFL is full of language borrowed from wartime: bomb, blitz, sack, enemy territory. Plus, there's the whole concept of, "For the loser, there is no tomorrow," that exists across sports and is an exaggeration of the truth.

So, I agree that the teams don't truly hate each other, but it is really just one of those sports cliches that has been perpetuated despite its inaccuracy. To say, "These teams don't like each other," pretty much hits the nail on the head, but it is important to remember that refers to how the teams as a whole feel about the other team on the ice, not how the individuals view opponents outside of the arena.
 
Re: Lead up to Sochi

I think most outside observers would be surprised to know how most of the players on the teams are great friends off the ice primarily because they all know each so well and are often former teammates.
 
Re: Lead up to Sochi

OneTimer said:
I think most outside observers would be surprised to know how most of the players on the teams are great friends off the ice primarily because they all know each so well and are often former teammates.
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True. When I played my Dad or brother, I "HATED" losing! Similar here too.
 
Re: Lead up to Sochi

OneTimer said:
I think most outside observers would be surprised to know how most of the players on the teams are great friends off the ice primarily because they all know each so well and are often former teammates.
Click to expand...

One of the most interesting and compelling things to me about this women's game is how the ends move out, regardless of how far, only to eventually fold back into the middle and start the process over again and then again and then again, ad infinitum. Seems to me that the size of the community of players (meaning that it is relatively small) makes this phenomenon easier to observe.

As an example J-Rock and Irwin were team mates at UMD, Ouellette played for UMD prior to that and she and Julie Chu were the UMD assistant coaches during J-Rock's and Irwin's freshman year. In addition, Ouellette and Chu are team mates on the Montreal Stars. This is just a small example of the 3D cobweb that is created by the players' paths continually crossing in varying roles over the years...and if you go back a few more years to before their NCAA or CIS play it becomes even more interesting.

I have always found that fascinating...something about the fabric of life and all that. It would be interesting to know how these relationships are used to assist one another in their post hockey careers and lives...sort of like a non-university related alumni.
 
Re: Lead up to Sochi

The final two games were interesting to me in that it seemed that Canada had found some answers on how to neutralize the Lam-Duggan line, and even Decker and Coyne to some extent.

But the Knight-Carpenter-Stack line pretty much had their way with Canada in Minny and Toronto. There is just no one that can handle their combination of size and skill. They just out-muscled Canada left and right in both of those games and Canada just doesn't seem to have any answer. It will be interesting to see if Canada can adjust in the next few weeks, but to me, that's the line that will be absolutely key.

I don't know enough about Canada to know, but it seems like they don't have anyone with the same mix of size, speed and skill to go against those ladies.
 
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